The Heist
by we-are-boldly-going
Summary: Star Trek heist AU - When Christopher Pike recruits a team of "the best of the best" to rob him a bank, no one knew quite what that meant. With their lives in someone else's hands the team have to work together to get the job done or it could be their necks in the firing line. (collab)
1. The New Recruits I

Gravel crunched beneath the figure's heavy boots as he approached the dingy bar. The wind was cold against his face as he pushed forward, but he didn't slow his pace- there was a goal in mind which he was determined to accomplish. The figure was hunched, hands pocketed, face set with determination for the task ahead. It needed to be done and only the best would do. Christopher Pike would only settle for the best. And the best? He was in the bar ahead of him.

Pike's hand folded around the metal handle as he paused outside the door, running his plan through his mind once again before moving into the building. Instantly he was overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol. The hum of conversation and music reached his ears, but Pike shrugged them off, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was finding Kirk and McCoy and so his eyes moved off round the room in search of the one person he was after. Just as he was going to turn and leave, search elsewhere, he caught sight of two figures hunched over a table in the dimly lit corner of the room. The smallest of smiles crept onto his face as he stood watching the two for a moment, just to make sure they were the people he sought.

They were withdrawn, clearly they meant to keep to themselves, but not letting that faze him, Pike started to make his way through the tables towards them. As he approached, before he could even reach the table, it was as if they had sensed him. Their voices slowed to almost a complete standstill, their spines rigid and shoulders tense. Pike readied himself to intervene with their conversation, but before he got the chance both faces turned towards him. A quick glance told him how this was going to play out. Their expressions were full of warning and unwelcome. "Gentlemen," Pike stated as his eyes moved over the two men in front of him.

"Look," interjected one, his voice rough and thick with the stench of alcohol. "Whatever you want, we're not interested." It was McCoy, his focus forward on the glass before him. Pike assumed that is was Kirk sitting opposite him. "It would be best if you just walked away now."

Instead what Pike did was turn to grab a chair from the table behind him before pulling it forward and taking a seat. "I think you will be interested in what I have to say," he responded with a smile, a smile filled with such confidence it caught Kirk's attention. McCoy on the other hand still wasn't interested.

Kirk leaned forward over the table, before picking up his glass and taking another sip right in front of Pike, clearly lacking in manners. "What do you have to say then?" The interest in his voice only encouraged Pike and irritated McCoy. "Speak quick before I lose interest."

The smile still present on his face, Pike leaned in a bit before glancing behind him to make sure no one was listening in. "Listen I have something I need for you to do, and only you can do it, Kirk," He said slowly, drawing his words out. There was a momentary pause before he continued, "this is unlike any task you've ever faced before."

"And what makes you think he's going to do anything for you?"

Kirk waved off his McCoy's comment before he turned his eyes back to Pike. "Go on."

"Think you can get past the tightest security we know?"

That caused a smile to light up Kirk's face. "I'm listening," he encouraged. McCoy still seemed to be irritated that they were interrupted, yet he still turned his gaze towards Pike interest subtly etched on his features.

"I need you, Kirk, to lead a small team of people, to put it plainly, rob a bank." Pike's expression was serious, his cold gaze flitted between the men before him. This couldn't go wrong, Kirk had to accept, no one else could pull this off. It wasn't like him to decline an offer like this.

Kirk stared at Pike for a moment before he slowly placed his glass back on the table and turned his attention towards his partner. "What do you think, Bones?"

Pike glanced to McCoy, his brows pulling in slightly as he slowly shook his head before the man could answer. "This is for you Kirk."

"Listen here old man, you obviously don't know my policy. It's either me and him or no deal at all." Kirk's voice was almost daring Pike to oppose him again.

Pike's gaze moved over to the other occupant of the table who still sat unmoving as his eyes stared at his companion. These two clearly were inseparable, but could he really allow McCoy to be part of this? Was he up to the job? Pike shifted, wondering if he was willing to let McCoy be part of the mission regardless that he could compromise everything. That was when he turned on the other man. "This is a serious matter, if you go running your mouth to someone, you're dead, you understand me, son?"

Kirk didn't take kindly to Pike's mannerism towards Bones, "Watch yourself." His voice low and warning. "I'm responsible for him-"

"Shut up, I'm responsible for you Jim, don't flatter yourself." McCoy finally spoke, his eyes turned to Kirk. Pike took note of their behavior regarding one another, a small smirk played the corners of his lips.

"So what do you say?" Pike finally asked, his eyes moving across the two men opposite him. "Think you're up for it?"

Kirk and Bones exchanged glances, which seemed to have an entire conversation in a single look. Kirk's expression almost overconfident and Bones' expression was almost exasperated. Finally Kirk turned to Pike, it was as if he were a completely new man, "you've got yourself a deal, old man"

* * *

**AN: **so yeah, this is a collaborative effort to create a fic from a wonderful post found on Tumblr. The idea if from user captainsulus so go roll on them for awhile. If you know of the post I am talking about then I high five you. That is all


	2. The New Recruits II

The soft hum of typing filled the room as figures sat hunched up over keyboards, hard at work. It was the same thing day after day, wake up, go to work, work in front of a computer all day, go home and then sleep. It was the same old routine each day for Zach, but he was used to it all by now. It was almost comforting, the hum of the monitor in front of him and the shuffling from the cubicles to either side of him. His whole life was lived in front of a computer screen and it didn't bother him in the slightest. This was what he was good at, working with the systems. He enjoyed figuring out all their little secrets, decoding messages, and working around locks. There had yet to be a firewall that Zach couldn't break through.

That particular day was a day like any other, there was nothing strange about the comforting glow of his monitor. A half eaten sandwich rested beside his keyboard and the digital clock beside him read eleven twentythree. The seconds ticked by slowly, but Zach's fingers continued to dance over the keys, his full attention drawn to the task before him. This task had nothing to do with his normal assignments, this was his private interest, a separate world entirely. Perhaps work was not the best place to have this secret persona exposed as it was, but this needed to be done. His night had gotten away from him and so he had fallen behind, that hug on the sofa had turned into much more than first anticipated.

His focus so honed in on his screen that he hadn't noticed the man standing over his shoulder. When he finally sensed the presence behind him, his shoulders tensed up. Instantly he mind starting running through the possibilities of who it could be, Joe from around the corner, or maybe his boss, as nonchalantly as he could, Zach opened a new window and continued working as if it had been nothing. That was when he decided to turn his head to see who was peering over his shoulder. The face he was met with was neither Joe nor his boss, but a face he didn't recognize. Again Zach tensed up, unsure of the motives of this new stranger.

"Can I help you?" His voice was low and uncertain. What could this stranger want?

The figure before him smiled as his eyes moved to the computer screen. "I'm sure you can, Mister Spock." There was something about this stranger that wasn't quite right how did he know that he was Spock? There was no connection between himself and his other persona. No one knew Spock's face, he hadn't told a soul about it and yet someone stood before him with the knowledge he had been keeping a secret for years. Zach took a moment to calculate what to do- should he play it off?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he claimed, making sure to keep eye contact and deter the suspicion that he could be lying. But there was a look in the stranger's eye that suggested he already knew the utterance was a lie.

Without a word the individual reached into the folds of his jacket before pulling out what seemed to be a newspaper clipping. "So you weren't responsible for this?" He asked as he held out the clipping for Zach to take, the look on his face suggested the man knew exactly what was on the clipping, though he took it anyway. Zachary couldn't imagine how this stranger could possibly know the event was his doing. The entire thing had been kept confidentially between himself and the employer who asked for him to accomplish the feat.

Zach's eyes moved over the clipping in his hand for a moment before he held it out for the individual to take back. "_I_ had nothing to do with that," insisted Zach, still playing as if he knew nothing.

Pike tucked the clipping back into the folds of his jacket from where he pulled out a new piece of paper. "Well give me a call when you decide otherwise," he stated before handing over the new slip of paper, written on it was a single number and no name. Zachary looked the piece over and watched as the stranger's back moved through the room and out the door. Then without another word, Zach placed the number in his pocket before pulling up the other screen of his computer and going back to work.

* * *

The armchair beneath him was much more comfortable than the office chair he had to sit in at work. It would be easier to think about what had happened at home with no one around than in the office where people were walking past all of the time- wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong ideas. Best keep this as private as he could. And so with a glass in his hand and the number set out on the coffee table in front of him, Zach's thoughts started to kick into action. Should he take an offer from someone who knew who he was, what he looked like, even where he worked? If his image was to ever make it out, the cops would come looking, his whole life would be ruined. But Zach couldn't deny the curiosity that was scratching and begging for attention. What did he want? Who was he?

Taking a large mouthful from the contents of his glass, Zach held it in his mouth for a moment before he swallowed hard. If this man was calling for Spock, certainly he had something in mind that wasn't exactly.. legal. If he was calling for Spock then perhaps it was just another job and he didn't seek his downfall. There was simply no telling what he wanted from him. The only way to find out was the call the number on the table in front of him. The number had been punched in on his cell since he arrived back in the apartment, but he still hadn't called. The man bounced his phone in his hand lightly, finally coming to a decision of whether to call or not.

"Oh what the hell," the man hit call and held the phone to his ear, listening as each ring seemed to last longer than the last- would he even pick up?

Finally came the crisp voice from the other end of the line. "So you finally decided you were involved?" There was a sound of confidence to his words, as if he knew Spock wouldn't decline the offer that had yet to even be made.

"Yeah, now what the hell do you want?" The remark indicated just how irritated Spock was. He just wanted to know what he wanted, but first there was the question of how he came to find him. "And how the hell did you know where I work and who I am?"

There was a laugh from the other end of the line, a smooth, calm chuckle. "Patience, I have my ways. Now, onto business." There was a pause and Spock could hear him ruffling through paper before he spoke up again. "I am in need of Spock's particular talent to get past security like he's never seen before. Would he be interested in that?"

Like he's never seen before. The words were tempting. He was always thinking about how nothing was challenging enough so perhaps this would be the challenge he was after. He took his time in answering the question that had been posed for him- he needed more information about the job before he could accept. "He's interested," Zach responded carefully. Don't let him know how interested you are. He told himself. "But, hesitant."

"Well what will it take for him to be onboard?" Came the voice from the other end of the phone, clearly intent on getting Spock on the job.

Zach hesitated as he held the phone to his ear, what more did he really have to say? He wanted to know what the job even was, he couldn't accept a job which could very well risk getting him found out. "More information."

There was another pause from the other end, clearly whoever wanted his service wasn't keen on giving too much information. The voice broke through again, "I'm gathering a small team of the best at what they do. You're the only one who can get past the security system of the bank. Once I've gathered the team needed there will be a briefing with more information."

"And how many are you planning on recruiting? I don't do well with big groups." He didn't like feeling responsible for so many people, sure he could get through the security, but he wouldn't be held responsible for any one else's mistakes...or lives for that matter.

"Other than yourself? Six." This was as much as he was willing to say, no names, either Spock would accept or not.

Six. He was responsible for helping six others, if everything went south he would be the one to get the blame and could he work with so many others? Zach took his time thinking over if the challenge was worth it. This could turn out to be the hard challenge he was after, not only would the security be a challenge, keeping his patience and nerve would heighten that challenge.

Staring at the phone in his hand for a moment, Zach paused for a moment before sighing heavily and putting the phone back to his mouth. "Alright, you have yourself a deal."

"Good to hear. I'll keep in touch" the response quickly came. And just as quick as the voice spoke, the call ended.

Zach sat silently for another long moment, just watching the phone in his hand before the slimmest of smiles slipped onto his face. He played around different ideas of which bank security he was going to slip past. Placing the phone back on the table, Zach leaned back in his chair before picking up the remnants of his drink just as someone appeared in the doorway. "What are you smiling about?" Came the smooth voice from his wife.

Zach glanced up, placing the phone back in his pocket. The man finished what was left of his drink before answering, "Oh, nothing. Just work."


End file.
